1. Field
The subject matter presented herein relates generally to the field of monitoring particles in a flowable sample, such as a slurry, emulsion or suspension.
2. Background Information
Liquid systems with high particulate concentrations are known. Examples of such systems are slurries used in chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) processes for the semiconductor industry and emulsions used in the pharmaceutical industry.
Optical methods of detection and characterization have been used for monitoring particle parameters in gas and liquid media. U.S. Pat. No. 6,710,874 to Mavliev discloses an apparatus and method for the optical characterization of particles in highly concentrated systems and is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.